Gravity
by Chibi Michi
Summary: Riku Kabik thought working retail was a pain in his ass. But with the addition of a new employee and possible love conquest he learns to have fun and look forward to coming in to his shifts.
1. When I was darkness out of time

Author's Notes:

This idea stemmed from the fact that I really wanted to do another Sora/Riku fic. And I also wanted to write a fic about what I know, and the best thing I know (as of now) is working in a bookstore. Here, is the drama that can follow working in a mall.

Disclaimers: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

**Gravity **

**Chapter One**: When I was darkness out of time

By Chibi Michi

The natural force of attraction between any two massive bodies, which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

It was official. Riku Kabik was bored. When you start looking up words in the dictionary, its time to just hang yourself above Self Help. The best part is: his shift had just started.

"Riku, are you reading the dictionary again?"

Riku looked up and focused his aquamarine eyes on the keyholder on duty, Cloud Strife. Riku turned back to his dictionary and closed it. "I was just looking up some words. It's a Monday, no one is here," said Riku, "I could be home catching up on some well-deserved sleep."

Cloud walked towards the PC and checked the traffic report. $534.45. That was all they made today and it was now 6:00 pm. "Man, if Leon don't hurry up off his break I'm leaving you here," muttered Cloud.

Riku shrugged. "You can go. I doubt I'll have a line."

Cloud grinned, "You never know. You could have a line all the way down to cooking when I leave," he teased. Cooking was about 12 feet away from the register.

Riku sent a glare at Cloud and rapped his knuckles against the wood. "Knock on wood. Don't jinx it Cloud!"

The door chime for the backroom sounded, signaling the emersion of an employee. Cloud and Riku both looked to see Leon making his way to the counter. A cup of coffee in his hand, left over from his dinner. Leon walked behind the counter and set his cup down.

"Alright, I am gone!" announced Cloud as he threw off his nametag and walked into the office where his coat was. A couple minutes later Cloud walked back up and waved goodbye to the two. "See ya!"

Riku sighed. "See ya." Personally, Riku preferred to close with Cloud. Leon was too…quiet. He never spoke to Riku unless absolutely necessary and he left him stranded at the register, which he absolutely hated.

Leon turned to Riku. "I'm going to scan Audio. Afterwards, you can shelve the rest of True Crime." With that, Leon left Riku to watch the front. Riku decided that the dictionary wasn't all that entertaining. So he decided to skim the trashy celebrity magazines at the magazine rack.

"Britney pregnant again…Nick and Jessica have a rendezvous again…Nicole and Keith are married…"

Riku would have kept reading off the stories except a customer came up to him. "Um…do you work here?" she asked hesitantly.

Riku refrained from rolling his eyes. _No I just wear the nametag as a fashion statement. _Riku put on a fake smile, "Yes." _Tidus is right; working here is making me bitter._

The customer stumbled through her question; "Well…there was this book I heard on the radio. Uh shoot…I left the paper I wrote it on in the car. Um…it's by this famous doctor on how to improve your health….I think."

Riku stared at her blankly. No author. No title. Did she think he was psychic or something?

The customer smiled, "Oh! I believe it has a green cover."

_Yeah, let me just take you to the section that has all our green covered books_. "I would not be able to locate the book without a title or an author. Maybe if you look it up online where you can see the picture, just call us and we will check our computer."

"Can't you do a keyword search for the title?" pressed the customer.

_In order to do a keyword search I would need some keywords._ "Not if I don't know any of the title," replied Riku. _Dumbass._

Defeated, the customer moved towards the medical section, mumbling "thanks" to Riku. Riku grabbed a music magazine and settled behind the register. _Like I know what the hell your talking about lady._

Riku was completely engrossed with his magazine, silently wishing he had enough money saved to buy him a guitar. It really sucked to live paycheck to paycheck. Whenever he said this to his mom she would just respond with, "This is why you go to school, so you can get a salary."

That future salary wasn't helping him right now though. You can't take future salaries to a music store.

"Um…excuse me?"

Riku sighed, wishing that he could just get paid to stand there and read the merchandise. He didn't move his head but lifted his eyes to see who was in front of the counter. His eyes widened slightly at the sight before him. It was the feeblest boy he had ever seen. He had wild brown hair, worse then Cloud's, and the clearest sky blue eyes; everything about this boy screamed effeminacy.

Riku found his words quickly. "Yes?"

"I was wondering…are you hiring?"

Riku straightened. "Yes. How old are you?" he asked. Eighteen was the age you had to be to work here. There was no way he was…

"I will turn eighteen in a few weeks."

Riku raised an eyebrow. _No way_. Riku was this close to demanding to see ID from this kid. Riku shrugged it off and grabbed an application for him. "Here." Riku handed the four-page application to him, then went back to his magazine.

"Ah…do you have a pen?" he asked.

Riku nodded and handed him a pen. The boy turned and went to sit in one of the chairs. He continued to flip through his magazine. He didn't look up until he heard the squeal of wheels.

"That cart is annoying," commented Riku. _Much like the customers._

Leon nodded, and stopped in front of Riku's register. He looked over to where the brown haired kid was filling out an application. "Is he eighteen?" he questioned.

Riku nodded. "Yup, in a few weeks." Riku glanced at the boy. "He looks more like jailbait if you ask me."

Leon raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't say a word, and continued to wheel the cart of audio returns into the backroom. After a few moments, he came back out and stood behind the counter with Riku. He grabbed his coffee and took a sip. As he set the coffee back down, he spoke. "Go shelve True Crime."

Riku nodded, and closed his magazine. He walked over back to the magazine rack and placed it back where it belongs. He then walked in the back room and placed the True Crime books on a handcart and rolled the cart out into the store and went over to the section. Of course, as soon as he went over to the section, he noticed several books out of place.

"Son of a…"

Riku sighed angrily; he knelt down and began straightening the section. Riku was completely oblivious to the rest of the store till he felt a presence beside him. Riku turned to his right side and saw the feeble boy placing books back slowly.

I guess he felt Riku's eyes on him, so he spoke, "Looks like someone left these book by the chair," he said quietly. His voice had a childish tone to it. Riku could imagine his lips forming into pouts when he didn't get his way.

"Thanks," responded Riku. It wasn't everyday that someone actually put books back. That was about as common as when a kid comes in, destroys a book, and the parent actually pays for it.

Riku watched as he put away the last book and then the kid stood and straightened. It was then that Riku noticed how slender the boy was. Riku was wondering if he was…

"Should I turn in my application at the counter?" he asked, interrupting Riku's train of thought.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, just hand it to Leon."

He nodded in response to Riku and turned towards the chair and grabbed his application.

"We usually hold applications for about a year," stated Riku as he shelved his handcart. Riku heard the kid walk up to Leon and turning his application in. He even heard the "thanks" the kid muttered to Leon. Of course, Leon didn't say anything. The most he probably did was nod.

Riku straightened and watched as the kid walked out of the store. Riku returned to shelving. Once finished, he returned the handcart to the backroom and then resumed his position behind the counter.

As Leon knelt down to open and counts the safe, Riku looked at the back counter and saw the kid's application. He scanned over the name.

Sora Brenbrook.

…………………………………………….

**End of Chapter One.**

I know it's short but I wanted to get the basic idea out. If anyone has any suggestions for this fic (mostly if anyone has Retail horror stories) I might put them in here (giving you credit of course).


	2. Open your eyes

Thanks to everyone that has reviewed. I really appreciate it and I try to reply to all reviews. Maybe not right away, but I eventually go back, and respond to the authors who have signed in to review. I'm sorry for anyone who may not sign in, cuz I won't be able to respond to your review. It's just that the private message system makes it really easy.

This story doesn't really have a plot or anything. It's sad to admit that this is just a story of anything that pops in my mind. Most of these incidents have either happened to me, or other friends that work in retail. This story is meant as one of those light-easy read stories. There is no deep meaning hidden in here. I'm not that good of a writer.

So without further ado…

Gravity 

**Chapter Two: **Open your eyes

By Chibi Michi

It was another beautiful day outside. The weather was just perfect enough to sit outside without sweating excessively. The kids were out riding their bikes, playing basketball, or playing blitzball.

Except for one.

Riku Kabik was at work, and was currently cleaning up the mess left behind by some rambunctious kids. As he picked up a Dora book he mumbled to himself, "Why can't parents teach their kids to pick up shit? I mean, do they let them do this at home…what the hell…"

He placed the books in their proper section and then returned behind the counter where his other coworker was standing, reading a magazine. She looked up from her magazine to glance at him and ask, "How bad was it?"

Riku sighed and leaned against the back counter. "Let's put it this way Yuffie, I never want to have kids."

Yuffie laughed. "Aww don't let it bother you too much. I'm sure you were just like them when you were younger."

Riku gave her a dead stare. "No, I wasn't." Riku sighed; there weren't that many people in the store right now. But just for that thought he probably jinxed it. A couple pre-teen boys were loitering the store and a couple elderly people were sitting and reading. Riku spotted a lady who was dubbed as "Romance Lady" because she bought a lot of (smutty) romance.

"Um…excuse me."

Riku looked up, and was once again looking into a pair of sky blue eyes. _This is the second time he's caught me off guard_, he mused to himself.

Yuffie put her magazine down and cooed at the boy, "Well aren't you a cutie."

Sora blushed, embarrassed by the compliment. "Thank you. I'm here for an interview," he stated.

"Oh so that's why Cid is still here. Usually he leaves around 4. We have a code on the door, so I'll take you back to the office," said Yuffie and she escorted Sora back to the office.

Riku watched as them until his view of them was obscured by bookshelves. He turned his attention away when he heard someone walk behind the counter. He turned and saw Cloud going in the drawer for his paycheck.

Riku smirked, "That's the only reason you would come up here on your day off."

Cloud took his check from out of the drawer and placed it in his pocket. "Yup. I'm not Yuffie, I don't come up to the store on my days off." Cloud looked around, "Where is she anyway?"

Riku gestered to the back, "She just took some kid to the office for an interview."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "New? We usually don't hire till August."

Riku shrugged, "I guess Cid liked this applicant. Which is pretty rare."

"Girl or boy?"

"Boy."

The office door open and closed. Yuffie came from behind the bookshelves and walked back behind the counter. "Hey Cloud!" she greeted.

Cloud nodded, "Hey. So what's that new kid like?"

"He's adorable, I hope he gets to work here!" said Yuffie.

"Let's just hope he can learn quickly. Remember the last girl who worked her? Cid had her around for three months, and she didn't learn a thing. I'm glad he fired her," said Cloud.

Yuffie nodded, "Yeah she was a bit slow. I think this kid will do okay." Yuffie then had a look of interest as she looked past Cloud to see the pre-teen kids huddled over one magazine, a goofy grin on their faces. "Hey!" she called out. They looked up, their faces similar to that of deer in headlights. "Are either of you eighteen?" she asked. They shook their heads 'no'. "Then step away from the dirty magazine," she called out.

If the boys weren't embarrassed at being caught, they were now embarrassed at having the whole store look over at them. The boy holding the magazine dropped it and briskly walked out of the store, along with his friends.

Cloud sighed and walked over to pick up the magazine and flipped through it as he walked back behind the counter. "Hm…this is a good issue."

Yuffie snatched the magazine from Cloud. "Give me that. I gotta go strip the cover and toss it now that they opened the package." Yuffie left and went into that backroom 1.

Cloud grinned, "Yuffie can get rid of them faster than us."

Riku nodded, "Yeah we try to intimidate them, she just embarrasses the hell out of them."

When Riku and Cloud heard the office door open up they both looked in that direction. Cid started heading towards them with Sora in tow. Cid walked behind the counter and grabbed the schedule.

For a second he eyed Cloud, "What are you doing here?"

"Payday."

"Of course," mumbled Cid. He glanced at the schedule again and then turned to Sora. "Alright, come in tomorrow at 5:30. You'll be working with Riku here," Cid jerked a thumb at Riku, "and Leon. Leon ain't here right now."

Yuffie emerged from the backroom and joined the group. "Hey, so is this our latest employee?" asked Yuffie as she gestured to Sora.

Cid nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright! You're gonna like it here!" chirped Yuffie. "I'm Yuffie!"

Sora gave a shy smile. "I'm Sora."

"Nice to meet ya Sora, I'm Cloud. When you work with Leon, be prepared to talk to a wall."

Riku gave a simple nod at Sora. "As you already know, I'm Riku."

Sora looked at Riku, his sky blue eyes locking with Riku's aquamarine ones. "It's nice to meet you."

Riku thought his heart might have skipped a beat. But he brushed it off. He didn't believe in love at first sight. Or second sight in this case.

…………………………………………………………..

End of Chapter Two.

1 I am not sure if it's obvious but there is an office and a backroom. They aren't the same. Just thought I'd point that out.

This chapter was pretty short too. But next chapter is Sora's first day. So I'm thinking it would be longer.


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